Van Almsick's Former Coach Dies -- January 7, 2003

BERLIN, Germany, January 7. DIETER Lindemann, the former coach of world record-holder Franziska van Almsick, died on New Year's Day of undisclosed causes, according to insweep.com.

Lindemann, who was 51, developed van Almsick in the former East Germany when she was a youngster. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, he was excluded from coaching on the 1992 German Olympic team.

When van Almsick appealed his exclusion, he was added to the staff of the German Olympic team in 1996. However, after van Almsick's disappointing showing in Atlanta where she failed to win an individual medal, she left Lindemann.